The winner of the eight-man field will earn $100,000 and the right
to challenge the Bellator’s current welterweight champion, Ben Askren.
Also rumored to include Bellator’s first 205-pound tournament,
season four will mark Bellator’s debut on its new television home,
MTV2, with whom the promotion announced a three-year partnership in
December.

Asked about the status of those competitors on Monday, a Bellator
spokesperson told Sherdog.com only that “final announcements are
forthcoming for each of the fighters in the upcoming welterweight
tournament.”

A five-year veteran of the sport, Hornbuckle had a breakout year in
2009, when he crushed Akihiro Gono
and Nick
Thompson in consecutive bouts under the Sengoku
banner in Japan. After signing with Bellator, “The Handler” reeled
off back-to-back first-round submission wins against Tyler
Stinson and Carl to advance to the finals of the second-season
welterweight tournament.

Hornbuckle would lose a lopsided three-rounder to Askren in the
June 2010 tournament final, but bounced back two months later with
a decision win over UFC veteran Brad
Blackburn. Hornbuckle had been tapped to face Ryo Chonan at
Sengoku
“Soul of Fight” in Tokyo on Dec. 30, but was forced from the
bout due to influenza.